The Operative

The Operative is a 2019 internationally co-produced thriller film, written and directed by Israeli filmmaker Yuval Adler, based on the Hebrew novel The English Teacher (המורה לאנגלית) by Yiftach Reicher-Atir, a former intelligence officer. It stars Diane Kruger, Martin Freeman and Cas Anvar. It had its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival on February 10, 2019. It was released on August 2, 2019, by Vertical Entertainment. Plot Thomas (Martin Freeman) is a British Jew who until a year ago used to work for Israel's Mossad intelligence agency in Germany. Now he is retired but still has access to some of his former employer's systems and resources. He receives a mysterious phone call from Rachel (Diane Kruger), another former agent whom he had recruited and who had become a friend but disappeared. Summoned to a safe house in Cologne in order to help find Rachel and determine her motives, Thomas reviews Rachel's recruitment and past assignments with his former supervisors through a series of flashbacks. Rachel's last known assignment was to pose as an English teacher in Tehran and observe Farhad Razavi (Cas Anvar), heir to an Iranian electronics firm. Flashback scenes reveal Rachel's acclimatisation to routines of daily life so as not to arouse suspicion. Eventually, she meets Farhad, who asks her to give him English lessons, leading to a romantic relationship as Farhad also introduces her to Tehran's underground nightlife.